There was an elephant in the room during Jets offensive team meetings yesterday and everyone took notice.

“It was funny. He sat right behind me,” Jets receiver Braylon Edwards said. “I turned around and looked and saw him and then I looked again and said, ‘What’s Rex doing here?’ ”

Rex Ryan, whose life has been coaching defense until he made a dramatic shift in his responsibility as a head coach on Monday and announced he was going to get more involved in the offense (particularly working with Mark Sanchez), called sitting in on the offense meetings like “French class.”

Ryan’s primary motivation in putting his hand to the offense is to help Sanchez eliminate turnovers. He said yesterday that he’s put a “system” in to help Sanchez better understand situations.

“He’s got codes for things, for situations that tie into the overall themes of the game, how things are going and he’s just gives me a little code word here or there,” Sanchez said. “It reaffirms what we’re all thinking, and it gets us all knowing the situation together. It’s important for me.”

Also important to Sanchez is Ryan taking special interest in him to help him rebound from his struggles.

“That means the world to me,” Sanchez said. “You know that means he definitely hasn’t lost confidence in me, and that he wants to make sure I understand that. He’s not shy about saying that we’re linked, [saying], ‘We’re linked together, you and me. You’re going to be our quarterback for a long time here.’

“Those are encouraging things to hear from your head coach no matter how you’re playing. I do truly appreciate his support, and it really helps get through some tough times like this,” Sanchez added. “That’s what growing up and being a quarterback in this league is all about. There is a lot of learning to do and a lot of work to do, but it is definitely helping with him around.”

Neither CBs Dwight Lowery (ankle) nor Donald Strickland (concussion) practiced yesterday, and neither is likely to play Sunday against the Panthers. LB Vernon Gholston (hamstring) returned to practice after missing the last two games but as limited. He could play Sunday.

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Sanchez invited the entire team to his house for a catered Thanksgiving dinner. Many of the players came as did GM Mike Tannenbaum.

“I was a little surprised by the [large] turnout after the game [when Sanchez threw four interceptions in the 31-14 loss to New England],” Sanchez said jokingly. “But I was really happy about it. It meant a lot to me.”